


The Fourth Ward

by ServantOfMischief



Category: Tokyo Ghoul
Genre: F/M, First Meetings, Itori - Freeform, Kado and Sumi ofc, Male-Female Friendship, Starving, Teenager ghouls, Tokyo Ghoul AU, Uta's first appearance in the fourth ward, becoming friends, can't go anywhere without Kado and Sumi, more tags will come later probably, uta - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-28
Updated: 2019-06-04
Packaged: 2019-12-25 18:33:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 20,188
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18267047
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ServantOfMischief/pseuds/ServantOfMischief
Summary: The Fourth Ward is shit, and Itori wonders if just existing is worth all the trouble. The peacemaker is a real bastard, and has everyone under his heel, and when Itori ponders how any of this is worth it, the peacemaker rule is threatened by a ghoul no one knows who is, or is hiding for that matter. Her curiousity is piqued, and she sticks around to see how it'll all end. Perhaps she'll be the one laughing in the end.





	1. Who Are You?

**Author's Note:**

> Because I literally can't control myself (and my damn anxiety prompted this) I wrote another past story of Itori and Uta, because I can and no one's told me to stop yet!

The fourth ward is a terrible place. It’s too close to the main headquarters to the CCG, and cannibalism is the norm. Ghouls eat each other instead of humans just to stay out of the investigators’ radars.

 

Itori knows this, is excellent at hiding and finding information that makes her desirable for a whole lot of strong ghouls. They use her to stay at the top of the game, to win and beat down other ghouls and keep them in line. She remembers when she was younger, how the leader of the ward literally had her chained on a leash. Her neck still itches whenever she thinks about it, and she finds herself unconsciously scratching at her skin. She might not physically wear the collar anymore, but it’s still there, because the man is still the leader of the ward. And he has properly trained her not to run away. Itori has learned just how cruel he can be with his punishments.

 

“Hey.” She freezes as someone snatches her wrist and pulls on her hand, and she turns around to look at a blonde boy, no older than her and wearing odd sunglasses, stare at her. Or she thinks he’s staring at her, it’s hard to tell with the shades obscuring her view.

 

“You’ll scratch a hole in your throat.” He says and she blinks before pulling her hand free.

 

“Yeah, right, thanks.” She mutters and turns around. She doesn’t know this one, has never seen him in the ward before, because she hasn’t heard anything about a blonde teenager ghoul roaming about. Nobody wants to stand out in the crowd here, and he certainly does.

 

“You smell too good, after all. No need to make others want to eat you.” She pauses in her steps, before turning around. A ghoul usually don’t smell good to another one, not in the sense he’s implying, at the very least, and she cocks her head. This boy might have become rather dangerous very quickly.

 

“Are you a cannibal?”

 

“Rude.” He doesn’t deny it, tongue sticking out impishly.

 

“Nobody will eat me just yet.” Itori retorts, planting her hands firmly on her bony hips.

 

“How would you know? Just because you’re skinny and starved doesn’t mean no one won’t pick their teeth with you if you smell good enough.” The contrast between his rude words and the way he articulates them with such an air of politeness nearly makes her do a double take. Despite her not knowing him, and mysterious ghouls being a danger, he is interesting, and she is curious as to where he came from, and what kind of danger he might pose to her master. Or if she’ll hear about various parts of him being found all over the ward. Most likely, she’ll experience the latter, as is usual in this ward.

 

“Because I’m still useful to the peacekeeper.” She declares before striding away. She doesn’t expect to ever run into him again, as the peacekeeper restricts her movements suddenly, and keeps her within a set area around headquarters. Itori doesn’t like headquarters, never did. She doesn’t feel safe in there, not that she’s safe anywhere, really, but she’d rather sleep on the open streets than in the peacekeeper’s home.

 

So she does just that, and is always with an escort when she is to gather information for the peacekeeper. She questions one of her escorts one day, a ghoul named Kado, why she’s suddenly being followed around.

 

“Trouble.” Is all the man tells her, and she frowns. Out of all of the peacekeeper’s goons, Kado and his brother are the ones Itori dislikes the least, and that is most likely because they don’t beat her just because they want to. Sumi even helped clean her wounds once. He’s a sweet guy, or as sweet as a ghoul serving the fourth ward’s peacekeeper can be, and Kado is nice too, despite not talking much.

 

“Stay here.” Kado tells her before he enters an abandoned building. She crosses her arms, not particularly happy about being stuck outside of an empty building. When she’s not allowed to roam free, then there’s a limit to how much information she can gather and that usually makes her fall on the bad side of the fourth ward’s peacekeeper’s temperament. Again she starts scratching at her neck, feels the phantom itch of the leather and chain digging into her skin and chafing it, before her hand is pulled away. She blinks, and turns her head, seeing the blonde boy again.

 

 _‘Still alive.’_ She thinks.

 

“Are you bait? Is that why you scratch your neck?” She yanks her hand back and crosses her arms.

 

“What do you want?” She demands. It’s a deserted part of the ward, and while he doesn’t appear to show any malicious intent towards her, she can’t be absolutely sure he won’t hurt her if given the opportunity, or reason to. After all, he’s already admitted to thinking she smells delicious, and that is never a good thing, not in this ward at the very least. Itori wonders what it’s like in the other wards, if things are more peaceful or if the other peacekeepers are as cruel and ruthless as hers is. Because this boy looks healthy, and none of the kids in this ward looks healthy, so he’s clearly an outsider. Her peacekeeper doesn’t like letting the younger ones grow strong, so he keeps them on a leash by starving them so they can’t overthrow him.

 

“I live here.” He tilts his head at the building, and she blinks. She doesn’t know much about this boy, not yet, but perhaps he is the reason Kado is here, and brought her along. There might be something to this boy, and she wonders if he’s trouble. Not to her, but to the peacekeeper. Well, if he’s trouble to the peacekeeper, he might be trouble for her too. And Itori wonders, not for the first time in her short life, if being eaten and having it all end is better than watching another newcomer bow before the fourth ward’s peacekeeper and crumble to dust. This one won’t suit the appearance of a starved teen. Not one of the younger ghouls in this ward does, and she is no exception, but she is so used to her own reflection and the harsh life they lead, so she doesn’t think twice about it anymore. This boy, however, is healthy-looking, and despite his age, she can see the beginnings of broad shoulders beneath his shirt… She pauses. There is blood on his clothes, a whole lot of it too, and she didn’t notice it.

 

“You’ve been in a fight.” She states and he shrugs.

 

“In my defence, he started it.” The blonde says, not seeming to particularly care much that someone picked a fight with him. Itori isn’t subtle about sniffing the shirt before she straightens back up. None of the blood smell like him, but it does smell a whole lot like someone whom she knows is close to the peacekeeper. Whether or not the boy wants to be or not, whether or not he is actually just someone who wandered into the fourth ward and wants to live there peacefully, he now has no chance for it.

 

If the peacekeeper ever finds out who did this.

 

It’s obvious to the redheaded girl now that Kado is here for the kid, and she likes living. No, not really, but she doesn’t particularly hate Kado and the boy has done her no harm yet, so she shoves him backwards. He stumbles a few steps back, and she can see a brow raise behind the shades.

 

“Why’d you do that?”

 

“You have to go.” She says, throwing a glance over her shoulder. The door is still shut, and she can’t hear her companion being anywhere close to exiting the building just yet.

 

“Why? This is my home.”

 

“And the peacekeeper has sent someone to come looking for you. Get out of here, until we’re gone.” He stares at her for a moment, rolls his shoulders and looking like he’s ready for another fight, but then pauses and sighs. He jumps and scales the wall and Itori watches him disappear over the edge of the roof. She doesn’t know why she told him to run, what part of her that made her look out for him when he clearly doesn’t need it, but what is done is done. She waits for another few minutes before Kado finally exits, face as blank as ever.

 

“Did you find what you came for?” She asks and he shakes his head.

 

“No.” She didn’t expect him to either, but as she moves to follow him he stops and stares at her. She can see his nostrils flare and she forces herself to keep a straight face.

 

“Itori-san.”

 

“What?” She knows then, that he can smell a lingering scent in the air and again she wonders why she told the boy to run.

 

“Did you see someone? Here?”

 

“No.” She shakes her head.

 

“If you lie…”

 

“I’m not lying, Kado-chin. I haven’t seen anyone since you entered this run-down place.” He seems to accept her statement, even though she knows he probably knows she’s lying. Especially when he gives a quiet warning of playing with dangerous matters.

 

“If I have information the peacekeeper wants, of course I’ll give it to him.” She always does, that is her sole purpose, the reason she lives. To serve the peacekeeper of the fourth ward, like anyone else does. Because the peacekeeper is the strongest ghoul in the ward, and everyone abides by his laws.

 

Except for one.

 

She turns when she feels eyes on her, and can see the kid from atop the building, staring after them. She gives him a small wave, and then promptly turns around to keep up with Kado, before he grows suspicious.

 

She is allowed a bit more freedom after that. The peacekeeper thinks that the one who killed one of his goons have fled the ward, as Kado found no proof that someone is living in that abandoned building he investigated. And Itori has no intel on him either because of the tight leash he’s kept on her lately. Itori does, however, notice that either Kado or Sumi follows her around often, and she turns on Sumi one day, surprising him.

 

“Why are you following me, Sumi-chin?” She demands and he holds up his hands in a calming gesture.

 

“Kado asked me to-“

 

“Why?” She snaps, cutting him off and he frowns.

 

“Because he worries that you’re getting yourself wrapped up in bad trouble.” She stares at him before sighing.

 

“I’m not getting into any trouble. I promise.” She tells him. “Follow me some more if you want to.” She gives him free reign to do what he wants, and she feels him follow her the rest of the day, sees him too now that he isn’t trying to hide from her, as she asks around for information and shares intel back. She doesn’t do anything that’s suspicious of her or out of character and Sumi leaves it at that and tells his brother not to worry.

 

Itori thinks it’s nice of them to care this much, especially since following her around in such a suspicious nature makes them run the risk of falling out with their leader. Of course, that can also end up with her being punished, so she’s happy they let it go and trusts that she will keep herself out of trouble-

 

“Here.” She jumps at the hand suddenly appearing out of nowhere, holding a take-out cup of something out for her to take. She blinks, eyes trailing up the arm and lands on the face of the blonde boy.

 

“Thank you?” She hesitantly accepts the cup and sniffs it. It smells like coffee, and she takes a sip, realizing it doesn’t taste all that bad, which makes her wonder where he got it from. It’s still steaming hot, but there exists not a single place in the ward where they sell good coffee, so she can’t help but be a bit curious about it. What tickles her curiosity the most though, is why he gave her the coffee. Obviously he must want something from her, but what?

 

“Why did you give me this?”

 

“As a thank you.” He tells her and she blinks. She hasn’t done anything which should warrant a thank you from him and tilts her head questioningly at him.

 

“For the other day.” He explains and she cradles the cup with both hands. There is absolutely no way he gave her this cup of coffee just as a thank you, people don’t do that. If you are given something, you are required to give something back, and Itori doesn’t trust this boy. She doesn’t know him, but she knows he’s trouble.

 

“What do you want?” He blinks, not expecting such a reply from her and shoves his free hand into his pocket.

 

“Nothing much. Just wanted to talk with you a bit, that’s all.” She doesn’t believe him, but she’ll indulge him. The peacekeeper wants information about him, and she is, frustratingly, unable to use her usual sources because no one knows anything about him. He’s clever, apparently despite his young age, but Itori is clever too, and therefore she is sure she’ll be able to wrangle some information out of him.

 

Because she will be in a world of pain if she doesn’t.

 

“Talk about what?” She asks and he shrugs.

 

“I’d like to know your name. You saved me from unnecessary trouble after all. I’m Uta.” And she has a name. She finds it rather weird though, how a blonde-haired ghoul kid can run around in this ward without being spotted, or at the very least leave a mark which can be tied to him. All they knew back when that goon was killed was that it was a blonde kid who had been seen running around in the area Kado had investigated. That is all the peacemaker knows about the unknown ghoul, and his mood has grown rather sour since then. Itori knows this better than most. He crushed three of her ribs in a fit of rage a few days ago, after all. They’re still throbbing, annoying her and causing her movements to be stiff and unnatural.

 

“I’m Itori.” She tells him and sees a smile grace his face. It’s cute, but she’s not so easily charmed.

 

“This was nice, Itori-san. We should do it again sometime.” He says before turning around and walking away and she blinks.

 

“Hey! Wait!” She calls out, but looses him in the crowd. Itori doesn’t know how she could, considering his bright hair and distinctive scent, but he’s gone, and all she’s left with is a name. It is better than nothing, so she finishes the cup of coffee and trudges back to headquarters. She dreads walking inside and stands in front of the door for several minutes before grabbing the handle. The place is nearly empty, with the exception of Kado, the peacekeeper and a few others. Itori doesn’t like them, because they are the ones distributing the food amongst the children and teens and they always make a show out of eating half of what they bring the kids. Itori remembers the feeling of helplessness and despair she felt back then. Now it’s just indifference, because this is how it works.

 

“You’ve returned. Anything useful to tell me this time?” The peacekeeper smirks at her, and Itori thinks that yes, she does have information for him. The boy is named Uta, and he is still in the fourth ward and while she doesn’t know his reasons for being here, either to just live peacefully or cause trouble, he might be dangerous, because he might be a cannibal but she does know that he killed the peacekeeper’s goon, so she opens her mouth to tell her master this.

 

“No.”


	2. Rations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Itori failed to meet the peacekeeper's expectations. Uta stitches together the pieces

If Itori ate more, she’d most likely heal a whole lot quicker, but if one fails and disappoint, then their rations are even less than what they already get. And she has disappointed the peacekeeper terribly with her latest venture.

 

Itori finds it weird that she feels more satisfied with having lied to the man and is suffering the consequences of said lie, than she thinks she would have felt if she told him the truth. So she walks with as straight a back as she can whenever she’s outside, but she can’t quite hide the slight limp, and how her right arm is just hanging limply by her side. Itori has seen better days, but considering this is such a terrible ward, no one looks twice at a fifteen-year-old limping about. Ghouls look away, not wanting to be caught doing anything that might catch the peacekeeper’s attention and the humans play at being ignorant. Not that she cares. What she has a beef with is the fact that she is so used to this abuse, that her body is so used to working and healing using nothing but fumes and has grown tough enough to survive as long as the peacekeeper doesn’t outright pull half of her internal organs out. That is what bothers her the most, really.

 

Uta has been elusive, as he’s been from the beginning. No one knows anything relevant yet, and Itori wonders what the peacekeeper will do to her when she again returns empty handed. Maybe he’ll break both her legs this time, or perhaps she’ll be lucky and he’ll lose himself in his rage to the point of killing her. Itori doesn’t mind if he drags it out and makes it as painful as possible, as long as it results in her dying. It is a depressing thought, but also just how it is. Itori isn’t actually living, she’s existing, and this kind of type of just _being_ isn’t worth it. She proceeds to take a short-cut through a cluttered alley, to see one last informant and hope for the best.

 

“Yo.” She flings herself to the side, and tumbles over something on the ground and she can’t quite stop the hiss of pain from escaping her as she falls onto the ground. Whatever slight healing her arm has done, is so quickly undone and she wants to laugh at the irony of it all. She’s a ghoul, a predator, an animal at the very top of the food chain, and right now anyone can take her out. So much for being a mighty predator. She is a laughable, pitiful mess and she wants to just lie there in the clutter and disappear, but she opens her eyes anyway and sees Uta, who’s tilting his head and looking quite confused.

 

“I know you're small and light, but that was ridiculous.” He says with a teasing tone, though he does notice how she pulls herself up with her left hand only.

 

“Can’t you say hello like a normal person?” She snaps, trying her best to ignore the painful twinge in her leg as she gets up. It feels like her shoulder has dislocated, and when she carefully turns her head, she sees that her shoulder is rather flat. She _has_ dislocated her shoulder. From falling. Is she really that bad off?

 

“You’re thinner now than you were earlier.” He’s observant, she’ll give him that. She’s thinner because she wasn’t given full rations the last time because she failed at her assignment and adding the severe beating she received into the mix, of course she’s smaller, frailer. Her body used whatever nutrients she got from her rations to keep her together. It barely managed to do that. She’s hungry and in pain, and this combination keeps her from being able to be polite.

 

“You sure know how to talk to girls, don’t you?” She says with an eyeroll as she tries to figure out how to pull her shoulder back in place. Before she can do anything, Uta has already grabbed a hold of her and shoves her shoulder back in place. It hurts, for all of a few seconds, then it’s a dull throbbing. At the very least she doesn’t have to think about this for a while.

 

“When’s the last time you hunted?”

 

“I’m not allowed to hunt.” She says, carefully rolling her shoulder.

 

“Says who?”

 

“The peacekeeper.”

 

“He sounds like a real piece of work.” His words make her laugh a bit, because it is true. The peacekeeper is a piece of shit, and someone should say it. Itori won’t, though.

 

“What happens if you hunt? He can’t control everyone.” But he can, because everyone is afraid of him, and therefore everyone follows his rules. Because the alternative is worse. She’s seen the less fortunate ones have their predatory organs viciously ripped out of them. The fortunate ones got eaten at the same time, the more unfortunate ones were dumped outside, with a blood trail leading the investigators right to them. The peacekeeper had brought her along to watch once, and warned her that should she cross him, she’ll face the same fate.

 

A prospect that no longer seem so terrifying.

 

“He’ll take our kakuho, if he finds us. And he always finds us.” Uta frowns but moves past her and she guesses that this is it for their interactions today too. And it went the other way than what she intended. He got information out of her and not the other way around. If she can’t even do her job right, what point is there to continue on anyway?

 

“Are you coming?” She blinks and turns around, finding Uta waiting for her.

 

“You never said you wanted me to come along.” She says as she moves to follow him and he gives her a weird look.

 

“Unless I actually say goodbye, it means the conversation is still going, doesn’t it?” While that might be true, where he comes from, it is not here. You’re lucky if the peacekeeper only leaves after having a conversation with you, but she doesn’t say much about it. Uta leads her to the abandoned building he’s claimed as his home, and she enters and wonders why Kado thought this place is deserted. The floors look clean, and while the couch is ratty and has seen better days, it most certainly looks recently used. Even smells so. It smells heavily of the other teen, so she guesses that is where he sleeps.

 

“Take a seat.” He tells her as he ambles over to a small fridge and rummages around in it. She does as told and looks around. It might not have much stored in it, but the place is cleaner than it should be to trick Kado.

 

“It didn’t look like this when me and Kado-chin were here last time, did it?”

 

“Nope.” Uta pops the p and walks back over, handing her a container with some kind of meat in it. She looks at it, then him, before pulling the lid off. Her empty stomach instantly growls, rather loudly too, and she feels saliva gather in her mouth. It’s a big, fat liver which has been presented to her and Itori clenches her teeth. She needs this, wants it. If she eats it, her body will have more energy to use towards healing, towards staving off the terrible hunger she already feels threatening to take over her mind. She feels the tell-tale spidering of web-like veins around her eyes appearing and knows that she is utterly unable to hide just how affected she is by the meat presented to her. It must be endlessly amusing for Uta to see her like this, so she resolutely covers the box with the lid and gives it back to him, not because she doesn’t want it, but because she doesn’t want to give in and give him the satisfaction of watching her break for something as simple as a liver.

 

A really big, fat, delicious-looking liver.

 

Uta blinks as she hands it back to him, looking confused and she almost falls for it. Almost. He wants something, whether it be information or just wanting to see what she has described in person and she won’t give it to him, because she’ll be the one getting hurt and punished even more.

 

“But you’re hungry.”

 

“Not that hungry. I’ve had it worse.” It’s a lie. She’s still young, her appetite is great and she needs to eat to grow, but she won’t succumb to him or anyone else. Itori still has some pride left, or so she likes to think.

 

“You’re a walking skeleton. A pretty roughed up one too. You need to eat.” He tells her as he holds the box out for her to take again. It is tempting, and she wants to yank it out of his hands, rip off the lid and gorge herself on it, but she can’t.

 

She can’t be owned by two people, especially not two who might have conflicting interests.

 

 “No.” She tells him firmly and he frowns.

 

“Why not? It’s not like you hunted it yourself, so there’s no reason to punish you if they ever find out you’ve eaten more than you were given. And it’s not like you’ve taken anything from them.”

 

“But they’ll think I did.” She says quietly, and the redhead wonders why she’s shying away from it. If she eats, looks and feels better and the peackeeper finds out he’ll most likely kill her, and that’s what she wants anyway, isn’t it? If she dies, it’ll all be over, and no more fear of punishments or weeks where she’ll be starving because she didn’t accomplish what the peacekeeper wants from her based on his own twisted agenda. She really should take the meat, and just flaunt the fact that she’s eaten and goad the man on until he tears her apart. Sweet freedom. After all, there are no peacekeepers in death.

 

Unless the universe is the biggest asshole to ever exist.

 

“It’s just one liver. It won’t make you look healthier, but it’ll help with your injuries.” He is logical about it, and she wants to eat, and perhaps she’ll accept his offer, if he will answer a question of hers.

 

“Why are you nice to me? Why do you seek me out?” Perhaps two questions. His answers depend on her eating today, and a small part of her hopes she finds his answer satisfactory because walking around hungry with a restriction on her is hard enough, but to have meat handed to her makes it all the harder to keep herself in check.

 

“Hmm? Well, that’s because you’re my friend, isn’t it?” The redhead can’t remember ever agreeing to be his friend. She might have done him a favour or two, by telling him to hide from Kado and consciously withholding information from the peacekeeper, but that by no means makes her his friend. Itori doesn’t have friends, doesn’t actually know what it means to be someone’s friend. What do friends do? What kind of relationship is that?

 

“What is a friend?” The way his head tilts at her question reminds her of a confused cat. It is rather cute, but she shakes the thought away, because she’s curious as to why he considers her a friend and is helping her.

 

“Friends look out for each other, and help each other and talk to each other. They hang out and enjoy each other’s company.”

 

“That’s many things.” Itori mutters, mulling over this new information. If he considers her a friend, then it is probably expected of her to do all of these things to him as well. In a way, she has already done some of them, and that is perhaps why he thinks they’re friends.

 

“It’s not as hard as it sounds like.” Uta says and holds out the box for her to take again. He did answer her questions, and as hard as it is to believe, she senses no ill will from him. He is genuinely caring, and that scares her more than anything else. Another thought strikes her: Uta won’t last long in this ward, not like this. She takes the box from his hands and opens the lid, staring once more at the liver presented to her. Her mouth waters and she gathers it in her hand, tentatively taking a small bite out of it. The taste is incredible, despite the flesh being cold. She digs in viciously and Uta watches as she makes a mess of herself while she eats. Most of the blood in the liver might have dried up, but she ends up biting herself as she desperately tries to get the last few pieces of the meat left and blood runs down her arms. It won’t hold the hunger off for long, but right now she feels so good she can’t be bothered to worry about it.

 

The stinging feeling in her hands barely bother her as her skin knits itself back together after her teeth dug into it. She falls back against the couch, slumping as the euphoria of finally getting some food into her washes over her. She’s brought back by the sound of Uta snickering to himself and she glances over at him.

 

“You really needed that, huh?” There is no use in arguing on the matter, so the girl simply nods her head and closes her eyes.

 

“Where are you from, Uta-san?” She asks and he hums. There is no answer, but she hadn’t expected one either.

 

“Don’t you want to leave, Itori-san?” She blinks at the sudden question, but shrugs.

 

“Where would I go?” He apparently does not have an answer for her and that is the end of their conversation. She stays for a bit longer before she decides to go back. She feels a little bit better, but she imagines she won’t for long. When she gets back, she knows she won’t be able to tell the peacekeeper anything, and word has probably gotten back to him by now that she has not gone through her usual channels. Idly the ghoul wonders how quickly the wounds will heal and the bruises fade considering she just ate.

 

“Thank you for the liver. I’ll see you later, I guess.”

 

“You’re welcome to come visit any time. I can’t promise I’m home all the time though, but you’re welcome to just walk in.” It’s a nice parting, because in a way he has given her a second place to be, somewhere other than headquarters where she’ll have to be in the same space as the ghouls’ she doesn’t particularly enjoy sharing air with.

 

Perhaps Uta’s abandoned building can become her escape, on her worst days and when she knows she’s not needed at headquarters. She knows she’ll have to make a conscious attempt at not just running here whenever she feels down, but she’ll deal with that when it comes to it.

 

A few days later she wakes up on his couch, arm in a splint and various bandages covering her all over her clothes. She blinks and looks down at herself, wondering what the point of it all is if they’re over her clothes before she moves to find the owner of the building. She can’t see him anywhere, so she explores to the best of her ability, given how her body is not exactly very cooperating right now. With the exception of the living room where the couch and fridge and table is, and a bathroom which is rather run-down and small, the rest of the building appears to be as deserted and run-down as it appears on the outside. She guesses Uta hasn’t prioritized the rest of the building, either because he doesn’t plan on staying in the ward long, or because he doesn’t think he needs the space. She moves back to the living-room, and carefully eases herself down onto the couch. She eyes the fridge, and wonders if Uta’ll be angry with her if she takes something from it, because her wounds are annoying and itchy, and she feels tired and terrible. Before she can act on her thoughts, the door opens and Uta strides in.

 

With a fresh kill.

 

It’s a plump man, and Uta grins when he sees her sitting up.

 

“You’re awake.” She nods, swallowing. The bag of flesh he’s carrying is really, _really_ appetizing. She jumps when he drops it onto the table in front of her.

 

“Eat.” It’s not a request, it’s a demand, and the blonde ghoul is not budging on it. Itori is too tired and hurt to argue and starts carefully digging into the body. Once she’s eaten her fill and feels her body start the process of mending itself back together, she turns to look at him, gesturing to herself.

 

“Why are the bandages over my clothes?”

 

“Would you rather I had taken your clothes off?”

 

“Wouldn’t it work better that way?” She asks him and watches him rummage through a cot for some containers before coming back over and starting to pull the body apart and storing various body parts and organs away.

 

“Would you have been comfortable with that?” Itori wonders why that matters, but at the same time she’s kind of happy that he thought so far ahead. She’s still alive, and while she looks ridiculous like this, like a dressed up mummy, at the very least her wounds are covered and what little there is left of her dignity remains.

 

“Why’d you get hurt this time?” He asks and she shrugs.

 

“I failed to meet his expectations. Again.”

 

“How often does this happen?” He raises a brow at her second shrug before shoving the body off of the table and jumping up on it, crouching and staring at her quietly. It is quite unnerving, and she plants a hand on his face and pushes him back. He falls over the edge and she stares as he sits up. She’s got his shades in her hand, and his hair is covering his face as he stares, the shimmering of a kakugan alerting her that his eyes have turned. Even though she most likely should be worried that she’s angered him, all she does is snort out a laugh, and curling in on herself because laughing isn’t exactly the most comfortable action she can do right now. He laughs too, surprisingly, before reaching out and taking his shades from her.

 

“Why do you wear sunglasses?” She asks. No matter what kind of weather it is, she has never once seen him without them. He’s pulled his hair back from his face now, and the laughter dies out. He inspects her for a long while before getting up and storing the containers away. The redhead must have broached a sensitive subject to cause him to quiet down so much and apparently ignore her presence. Once done, the male turns towards her and just stares again, and she grows uncomfortable and shifts.

 

“If you don’t want to tell me, just say so.” She mutters and watches him with wary eyes as he moves over and takes a seat beside her, one leg pulled up on the couch, the other resting on the ground.

 

“If I tell you, you must promise to never tell anyone.”

 

“Yeah, okay.”

 

“I mean it. You can tell your peacekeeper my name, where to find me, you can even tell him what kind of kagune I have if you ever find out, but you can’t tell him this.” Her brows furrow, and she wonders what it is that makes him suddenly so serious. She hasn’t seen this kind of side to him before, and therefore she is suddenly very aware of the danger she is in. He might have dressed her wounds and claimed to be her friend, but here in the fourth ward things shift quickly. But Itori is a curious girl, and information is her trade, and she has started to learn exactly how valuable information is in this world, so she nods.

 

“I won’t tell anyone.” It is a sincere answer. What use is there in telling anyone why a teenage ghoul is using sunglasses all the time? For all she knows, it might just be a part of his terrible fashion sense. Or because he thinks he looks cool in them. So when he pulls them off and blinks mismatched eyes at her, Itori’s jaw drops.

 

Uta is a one-eyed ghoul, an urban legend.

 

Itori has never seen a one-eyed ghoul before, and because no one else has either, she knows next to nothing about them. And it is so cool.

 

She clasps his face in her hands and pulls him closer, red eyes wide as she stares. It is fascinating, it is new, and Itori wants to know all about it. But Uta seems uncomfortable, so she decides to keep her questions to herself even though she’s brimming over with curiosity.

 

“You’re hiding that you have one eye.” He nods. “Why don’t you just inject ink into your eye?” He blinks at her, looking confused.

 

“Ink in my eye?”

 

“Yes, there are tattoo artists here who tattoos eyes. Why don’t you just ask them to ink your eye?” He seems genuinely confused, and also intrigued, but asks no more about it. Itori though, cannot keep one question from tumbling out her mouth.

 

“Really, Uta-san, where are you from?”

 

“The twenty-fourth ward.” He says and she whistles. She’s heard about that place, a ward hidden underground from some kind of terrible era the ghouls lived in. The place is apparently crawling with cannibals and is a terrible place to live. None of the ghouls there have ever been seen on the surface, or so the rumours go.

 

“The _real_ twenty-fourth ward.”


	3. Game

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Itori enjoys this game Uta has come up with. It plays to her strenghts, and it makes her daring to do things she's never dared to do before

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I uploaded early for the lovely Ginkochama, for just being a doll!

Itori helps Uta find a tattoo artist who is discreet and has his eye inked. The one-eyed ghoul is amazed at the results, unable to tear himself away from the mirror once it’s done. Itori is still curious about what the blonde meant when he told her he came from the real twenty-fourth ward, because she only knows about one and that makes her wonder; How many mysteries exists in this world when it comes to her kind? She wants to know more, but Uta refuses to answer her questions, and every time she pouts at him, he laughs.

 

Until three months later, when he tells her that if she starts digging and presents him with her findings, he’ll weed out the falseness and lead her towards the truth. It is a game, and it plays on her strengths, and she likes that. She takes on the challenge and starts digging around for some information. She doesn’t find too much and decides to brave her way out of the ward. She’s never once done that, but her sources are pretty much dry on this subject, so she has no choice.

 

In doing so, she sees a whole new world. She sees ghouls, children and adults alike, who are healthy looking, some even look happy, an emotion the redhead is not very familiar with. They blend in with the humans so well, like they are humans themselves, and Itori finds herself wasting most of her day just observing both humans and ghouls alike. It is fascinating, and there are many things to learn from this ward. Nakano, the fourteenth ward, is nice enough, and despite bordering to the fourth ward, it is completely different. IT makes the information gatherer wonder what it’s like, not being bound to anyone and free to do whatever she wants without answering to anyone but herself.

 

It sounds nice, but it is also just a dream and nothing more.

 

Itori can’t say she doesn’t envy the ghouls in this ward, those who don’t live under the oppression of a terrible peacekeeper, but there is nothing that can be done about it, because the peacekeeper is the strongest ghoul in the ward. She shakes her head and removes the thoughts from her mind as she goes about doing what she came here for in the first place.

 

There aren’t a whole lot of people who knows much about the real twenty-fourth ward, as Uta had called it, but she gets something out of it, though most of the stories she’s being told sounds like far-fetched tales and she leaves the ward even more confused than when she entered it. None of these can be true, is what she thinks as she slips into Uta’s home, but she’ll tell him what she’s found out none-the-less. He’s not at home when she enters, but she finds herself passing the time by rummaging through his fridge and filling her stomach a little bit, but not too much.

 

She can’t risk looking healthy, after all.

 

It’s nearly dark by the time he returns, and he’s got spots of blood all over his clothes again. Who he has killed, however, remains a mystery, because Itori doesn’t recognize the scent, all she knows is that it is a ghoul and not a human. She doesn’t know everyone the peacekeeper keeps around himself, but just because Uta has killed a ghoul it does not mean that said ghoul is part of the peacekeeper’s circle of goons. It might just have been a desperate one, or a poor one who crossed his path.

 

“Who did you kill this time?” She asks and he shrugs.

 

“Again, in my defence-“

 

“You just defended yourself, I know.” She finishes his sentence and he gives her a small grin. Most likely, it is not the only reason. She’s seen him fight, and she has no wish on ever getting on his bad side. He’d tear her apart in the matter of seconds, if this so-called friendship of theirs is just a game to him. Then again, she also feels like Uta is taking their situation much more seriously than she does and that perhaps he is lonely. She can relate to that.

 

“Did you find out anything today, since you’re here?” He asks as he removes his jacket and shirt, both articles of clothing slightly torn and in dire need of a needle and thread. She nods and tells him of the far-fetched stories she’s come across and he listens intently. She watches him as she tells him this and wonders why his expressions fluctuate so much. Sometimes he’d laugh, other times he’d look melancholic and she wonders why.

 

“Well, it’s true that the real twenty-fourth ward is located even further down than the twenty-fourth you originally knew of. The twenty-fourth you’ve heard of is actually just a stepping stone, a tiny stop on the way really, but the real ward is located way beyond and beneath. And yes, it is actually a city, a ruin now, built up by a one-eyed ghoul from around 100 years ago.” Which means that at least half of what she’s learned today is the truth. A far-fetched tale becoming reality.

 

“How long have you been down there?” She asks and he shrugs.

 

“A long time. So long I almost forgot what the sky looked like.” He tells her airily as he leans back in his seat.

 

“How did you survive? There are no humans down there.”

 

“No, but there are ghouls, and the remains of the one who built the city is there too. He left a lot of meat for his followers to eat.”

 

“How is any of that eatable by now?” Uta shrugs, either as if he doesn’t know, or if he doesn’t want to share the answer with her. Perhaps that is something she needs to find out on her own too.

 

“Why did you come back up?” She asks and he shrugs again.

 

“It got boring down there. It’s an empty ruin, a wasteland. There isn’t much left there, and only a few ghouls too. They’re scared of going up here, and I was tired of being down there.” Is all he tells her.

 

She visits Nakano again, mostly to just observe the way life is in this ward, and gathers some more tales, though she quickly learns that she has to go outside of even Nakano to learn more. She visits the twentieth-ward, even dares to tip-toe into the first ward for thirty minutes before bolting, though it is in the twentieth-ward she finds the most information.

 

That the CCG exists because of the one-eyed ghoul from a 100 years ago who openly rebelled against humanity. The reason why ghouls live in hiding now and are openly hunted by a human organization, why they have a way of dealing with ghouls even though they are ten times stronger and faster than a human is, is because one ghoul, a half-ghoul, decided to do some kind of rebellion for some unknown reason. And the reason the underworld ward exists is because most of the ghouls who rallied behind this one-eye had to run and hide underground when the humans fought back. When Itori asks Uta about this, he grows silent, and she has a feeling that she should keep her questions to herself for a while, because she might have annoyed him.

 

Even though this game was his idea.

 

“Most of that is true. There was no rebellion though. It wasn’t a rebellion.”

 

“How can you know all of this?”

 

“Most of the ghouls down there are descendants of the ones who ran and hid, built it. They’ve passed the stories down.”

 

“How can any story passed down orally be right?”

 

“It probably isn’t, but the main part of it is probably as accurate as it can get.” He shrugs. There is a finality in his tone and she accepts that this is as far as it gets today.

 

“Why did you come to the fourth ward, Uta-san?”

 

“Because it isn’t as bad as the twenty-fourth.” Is the simple response she’s given. It’s curt and his voice is a bit hollow and Itori doesn’t ask anymore. She doesn’t stay either, and leaves him to mull over the things she’s learned. She continuously visits with more information and he weeds the truth from the fantasy, or so he tells her. For all she knows, he might just be messing with her. He’s shown that he’s quite the trickster already, and while that isn’t something she minds but actually finds quite amusing, she is still cautious as she works.

 

“Where have you been?” She stands ramrod straight in front of the peacekeeper and does her absolute best to keep her face expressionless.

 

“I’ve been out gathering information.” She answers, and tries her best not to jump when he throws something at her. She can’t quite see what it is, only feel it breeze by her cheek with speed she can’t hope to react to.

 

“Don’t lie to me! You’ve gone outside the ward!”

 

“Yes.” She doesn’t deny it, what is the point of that? She did go outside the ward, and she did gather information. Just not the kind he wanted.

 

“Who gave you leave to do that, hm?” It’s incredible how ugly his face can become when it twists with anger.

 

And desperation, Itori realizes.

 

She’s gone outside the ward without permission, and if _she’s_ got the gall to do something like that, without him punishing her properly, anyone else can find it in themselves to do so as well. And if ghouls realize that they can run away, he’ll lose power, and that is not acceptable. The redhead feels an intense urge to spread a rumour that it is easy to leave the ward, because she’s sure that if you run far enough, and just hide out a bit, the peacekeeper will never be able to find the runaways. And she also realizes that this scares the man. Suddenly she feels like she has power, but she quickly supresses that feeling. She might know a whole lot more than him, but she is not physically stronger than him, and the man is clever.

 

“No one.” She admits.

 

“I hope you have a good reason.”

 

“My sources here in the fourth ward are useless. They know nothing about the ghoul who came and killed some of your men.” She answers and the man seem to calm down a bit.

 

“So I went outside to see if there were any other sources out there who knew where he came from.”

 

“Did you find something?” Itori wonders how much she can tell him without feeling like she is betraying her friend but decides to disclose one tiny little thing.

 

“I know that he’s from the twenty-fourth ward, and that his hair is blonde.” She says and there’s a hush falling over the entire headquarters. The peacekeeper’s jaw tightens as he straightens up.

 

“Anything more?”

 

“Not right now.” He nods and waves his hand, dismissing her and she turns around, leaving, heart hammering in her chest. Had she told him too much? Should she have just kept it all to herself and gone through another beating, or a more severe punishment for leaving the ward without the peacekeeper’s consent? She’s betrayed Uta, hasn’t she? Because for a tiny little moment she wanted to avoid being hurt, and therefore she did tell him something about Uta, something she’s known for a long time. Uta’s been in the ward for half a year already, and it must have been suspicious how she never found out anything about it. The peacekeeper must have grown suspicious, and she’s surprised he’s let her play on for as long as he has. Even though she knows better, she hurries over to Uta’s place, because she feels like she has to warn him now.

 

He looks happy to see her when she barges in, but tilts his head sideways in a curious gesture at the sight of her expression.

 

“Itori-san, what’s wrong?”

 

“I-“ She cuts herself off. Will he be angry with her for what she did? She did betray him, at least a little bit, and wonders how he’ll react to hearing it, even if it comes from her. Will he be angry? Will he stop being her friend? Will he kill her and eat her? None of the options seem very pleasant, but she swallows and moves to stand in front of the table. She doubts she’ll be able to evade him if he does lunge at her, but at the very least, she feels better at the thought of having something between them.

 

“I told the peacekeeper… something.”

 

“Like what?” He asks. He’s still just curious, and she bites her lip.

 

“That… you are blonde, and that you come from the twenty-fourth.”

 

“And?”

 

“That’s it.” He blinks, before tilting his head the other way, brows raised.

 

“That’s it?”

 

“Yes.”

 

“Then why do you look so anxious?” She blinks, confused.

 

“Because… I told them about you and I thought you’d be angry?” He laughs then, and she is left even more confused than before and just dumbly watches him fall over on the couch. Itori doesn’t understand what is so funny with the whole situation.

 

“It’s not funny!”

 

“It is.” He argues between his chuckles. “You didn’t exactly tell them much, why are you so worried?”

 

“Because I betrayed you, and… I don’t want you to hate me.” She admits quietly. His laughter fades and she twist her fingers together. Admitting it out loud is a whole lot more difficult than she thought it would be. Embarrassing too.

 

“I’m not worried about your peacekeeper, or his followers. If you telling them a little bit about me is helpful with you avoiding a beating, that’s fine by me.” Itori can’t believe what she’s hearing, and voices that thought aloud. What is he playing at, not being a afraid of the peacekeeper? She doesn’t want him to play tough in front of her, she wants him to tell her what is okay and what isn’t okay because she doesn’t quite know how friendships work just yet.

 

“It means standing up for each other.” He says and she’s even more confused. He must be making it all up, she tells him she thinks so, and he just shrugs. Perhaps he is, but the terms aren’t bad, she realizes. As long as they work both ways. Then he tells her to keep on telling the peacekeeper truths if that helps her out and keeps her out of trouble, he has no issue with it. She doesn’t believe him, and tests it by telling the peacekeeper that the boy is still in the ward, and that he responds to the name “Uta”. Days later when Uta returns to his home, she’s waiting for him, legs pulled up onto the couch, her chin resting on the tops of her knees, and she sees how bloodied his clothes look. His pants are shredded beyond saving too, she sees, but when she awaits an angry outburst from him, she can see only a wide, feral grin on his face and she comes to a realization.

 

He enjoys fighting, and she’s giving it all to him by revealing his identity, slowly, to the peacekeeper.

 

“Are you using me so you can fight, Uta-san? Are we really friends?”

 

“Of course we are.” He says, plopping down onto the couch beside her. “I’m not using you, it just works out this way when you tell them about me. They’ve started to actively hunt me now.”

 

“Are you going to die?”

 

“If I haven’t by now, I doubt I ever will.” He mutters and she wonders what he means by that.

 

“You’re just a teen, isn’t that an arrogant thing to say?” He gets this far-away look on his face as he stares up at the roof of the building, exhaling.

 

“I’m older than I look.”

 

“It can’t be that much. You’re what, seventeen? Eighteen?” The corner of his mouth tugs up and she has the distinct feeling he means to tell her he’s even older, thought he doesn’t look like it. There are many mysteries concerning Uta, Itori realizes, but she doesn’t push it. She’s learned that it is much more fun to find out things herself, and Uta enjoys it when she visits and tells him about the things she’s learned.

 

“You’re not going to hurt me, are you, Uta-san?”

 

“No, because you’re my friend.” He says and she accepts it. “But Itori-san?”

 

“Hm?”

 

“Can I get a nickname? I want a nickname, like this Kado you talk about often.”

 

“What kind of nickname?” She asks and he shrugs.

 

“A cute one, one just for me!”

 

“I’ll see if I can’t come up with something.”


	4. Execution

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Itori doesn't regret the actions leading up to this, but at the same time, she wishes she had been able to avoid this scenario too.

Itori isn’t quite sure how she ended up in this situation, or rather, she knows why she’s here, she just doesn’t know how the peacekeeper found out. Who could have ratted her out? Who is smart enough, or tenacious enough really, because she has been so careful for the last year, not just for her own sake but for Uta’s too, because despite him going around telling her he could care less, she is still worried about losing the one friend she has.

 

It’s late, it’s dark and they’re all gathered in an abandoned building big enough to host most of the ghouls in the ward. This is where the horror happens in full display, and every last ghoul there is cheering the peacekeeper on out of two reasons; either they enjoy the show because they are vicious and love causing others pain, or they’re too afraid to offend him and end up on the scaffolding themselves. Itori’s always wondered how no one can hear the noise they all make when they gather here and she supposes she’ll never find out either. Tonight it is her turn. She’ll have her kakuho gouged out of her and then she’ll be left for dead outside on the streets, or if she’s lucky right outside the CCG headquarters, as it is rather close.

 

It hasn’t been a nice life, nor a long one, and Itori can’t say she’s particularly satisfied with her journey either, but there’s nothing to be done about it now. Here is her end, and she wants to embrace it with as much dignity as she can muster. It’s going to be a pretty awful sight then, she thinks to herself. The only thing she’s even remotely happy to have experienced during her years is being Uta’s friend. That in itself has been an adventure, and an enjoyable one too. She's learned a lot.

 

When she was a child, she was always scared of this building and watching these punishments take place. Being stuck on the stage is ten times more terrifying. She had once grown apathetic to everything the peacekeeper did to her. The beatings, the cuts, the removal of an organ or two, even when he flayed the skin off of her lower body once, she always took those punishments with a certain amount of grace and courage. The peacekeeper hurts whoever he wants, however he wants, to keep the others in line, ruling with fear, and Itori had grown so sued to it she no longer feared what he could do to her, to the point she openly wished to be killed, because not even death scared her at some point.

 

But she’s afraid now.

 

Uta did this to her, he caused this. He made her care again, to feel, to actually want something out of life and somehow enjoy being alive again. Uta did this, he caused her to feel fear again.

 

And she doesn’t resent him for that. Even though it’s only been a year, it has been a fun year. She enjoyed it, it is hers and no one can take it away from her. Not even the peacekeeper, no matter how much he wants to.

 

“This is what you get for betraying me, girl.” The peacekeeper growls lowly. It’s all a show, to keep everyone in line and today she is the main attraction and not just a spectator. Itori is afraid of dying, that is something she can admit to herself now. She is terrified of what’s coming, but she’s not afraid of the man behind her, so she turns her head to look at him. All she sees is a pathetic man, trying desperately to keep things under control and she cannot keep herself from speaking up.

 

“Who’s more afraid?” She asks him. Her voice carries no spite or malice, just curiosity, but to the peacekeeper it sounds like she’s taunting him.

 

“You or me?” He grows red-faced and she guesses he’s pretty scared too. He grabs her hair and yanks her up and Itori can barely hear their cheers over the sound of her blood pounding in her ears. This is it. She imagines she’ll feel how it is to be torn apart pretty soon-

 

“ _Stop!”_ She cracks an eye open and sees Kado up on the stage. A hush falls over the room as something that has never happened before is happening right in front of them. Someone is opposing the peacekeeper and his decision, and that in itself is such a shock that everyone is speechless.

 

“She’s just a kid. She’s done everything that you’ve asked!” It’s sweet of him to stand up for her sake. Suicidal too.

 

“She’s been seen with the intruder! She’s on _his_ side, not mine!” Itori wants to point out that she was never once on the peacekeeper’s side, she’s only ever been on her own, but grinds her teeth together to keep quiet.

 

“Did it ever occur to you that perhaps she was with him because she was trying to learn-“ She knows where Kado is going with this, and stops him before he can finish his sentence. She is done for, and now Kado is most likely in for some serious punishment, but at the very least he might not be as screwed as her if she can make him quiet down now.

 

“Kado-chin!” The bald ghoul stares at her, and she musters up a small smile. “He’s my friend. Nothing you say will change that.” The peacekeeper moves and Kado charges forward. Itori feels no pain, and falls over as she is let go off. She turns and sees Kado fall over and the peacekeeper holding his kakuho in his hands, looking rather smug, before he shreds the kagune sack beyond salvation.

 

“Kado-chin!” She scrambles over to the fallen ghoul and reaches out for him. His kakuho… it’s gone now, and he is like Sumi, a ghoul with no predatory organ. It looks terrible, and Itori knows her own shoulder will look like his soon. Out of everyone here, Kado and Sumi are the only ones capable of overruling their fear for the peacekeeper and show sympathy for others. Sumi will be all alone now, if the peacekeeper won’t kill him too just because he’s Kado’s brother.

 

The thought angers Itori, and she glares up at the man who’s been holding her on a leash since she was a child. She can’t feel the itching now, she doesn’t know when it stopped, but the itching is gone and so is her fear of what will happen. She’s too angry to care.

 

“You’re utterly pathetic. And you’re weak!” She doesn’t know where the words are coming from, but they spew out of her mouth, no filters holding them back anymore and it is such a great feeling.

 

“You’re no leader, you’re just a bully who trample on those weaker than you! Half the people here in this room alone can take you out on their own!” Her words earn her a kick in the chest and she falls over. A second kick turns her onto her stomach and a boot lands on her back to keep her on the ground.

 

“Aren’t you chatty today.” He snarls, grabbing her hair again and yanks her up, and she is once again put in a humiliating position in front of everyone.

 

“Let this be a warning!” The peacekeeper yells out and the crowd roars to life again, realizing that once again the man is at the top and has no plans of relinquishing his hold any time soon.

 

“No matter how valuable your talents may be, if you cross me, I’ll replace you!” Itori wants to snap out a retort, say something witty, but a searing pain blooms in her right shoulder and turns her words into a scream. It hurts. Pain she’s never felt before making her unable to move. Now she knows why none of the others fought back when the peacekeeper grabbed their kakuho. The pain of someone grabbing your kakuho directly paralyzes you. She feels a tearing in her shoulder, like something is trying to hold on, like the organ is trying to resist being torn out. Suddenly it stops, and Itori feels herself fall to the ground. A new scream is heard, but it’s not hers, and she gasps for breath when she realizes. There’s a hush in the building again, except from the unknown screams from a voice she’s sure she’s never heard before and Itori finds the strength to carefully turn around just enough to see the peacekeeper clutch at his bleeding elbow. Half his arm is gone and Uta advances on him.

 

“Kado! Itori-san!” She can hear Sumi call out. Itori still can’t move much, and whether it’s from the hand still touching her kakuho or the sight of the peacekeeper cowering and screaming like everyone he’s hurt during his reign. It is quite satisfactory to watch.

 

“Come now, it’s only an arm.” There’s no playfulness in Uta’s voice as he grabs a hold of the peacekeeper’s throat and lifts him up. Itori is so used to seeing him grin, always look so mischievous, but now, now he looks cold. And she can finally say that she is right: Uta is dangerous.

 

“It can grow back, if you’re patient.” The peacekeeper only whimpers, doesn’t quite seem to understand what is going on. It’s so funny, to Itori at least. Everyone in the room, the entire building, are quiet, because the big, bad and scary peacekeeper they’ve been so afraid of for years is cowering and crying in front of a teenager.

 

“This is the man everyone is so afraid of?” She can hear the incredulity in his voice and the peacemakers looks up.

 

“K-kill him!” The peacekeeper manages to choke out and Itori finally feels the pressure leave her shoulder and Sumi comes into her sight.

 

“Can you move?” She hears him ask and sees the peacekeepers arm fall to the ground beside her.

 

“Yes.” She thinks she can, at least. Her body is heavy still, but she’s able to sit up.

 

“ _Kill him!”_ The peacekeeper screams again, and Itori glances over her shoulder. Nobody is moving, and she turns back around, sees Uta stand there, waiting for something. Perhaps it is the way the peacekeeper looks at the crowd, enraged of the fact that nobody is moving a muscle, and then fear slithers into his being as Uta crouches down.

 

“Nobody wants to help you.” Itori says quietly. He lunges, but Uta is faster and slams him into the ground.

 

“How was it he did this? Ripped out the kakuho and then literally handed you off to the humans?” The blonde asks, not even looking at the struggling peacekeeper, and Itori wonders just how strong he really is because while the peacekeeper is struggling with all his might, Uta nearly looks bored and she would have believed he is too, if it isn’t for the vicious look in his eyes.

 

“Yeah.” Sumi answers as he hoists Kado’s arm around his shoulders and pulls him up on his feet.

 

“I have something far worse in mind.” Uta mutters as he rolls up the sleeve of his shirt. “What type are you?” The peacekeeper refuses to answer, so Uta breaks his remaining arm as he looks towards Itori.

 

“Itori-san?”

 

“He’s a bikaku.” She tells him and watches as Uta rips the other ghoul’s shirt open on the back and digs his hand into his lower back and begins pulling. The peacekeeper screams, but is unable to move as the feeling of having his kakuho torn out of him paralyzes him. Uta is slow while doing it, and once it’s out, he holds it out in front of the peacekeeper and lets the sight soak in. This is what it’s like, this is what you’ve done to countless others, and now karma is biting you in the ass, Itori thinks. She relaxes a bit, leaning back on the arm connected to her uninjured shoulder and exhales. This is the end of that man, and the ward will fall into a disarray with everyone trying to take his place. She doesn’t want to stick around for that, and wonders if she should relocate now that no one is holding her back anymore.

 

“Wha-“ She hardly has the time to react as she feels hands, several of them, grab her and pull her backwards into the crowd. Her kagune breaks out, and she flinches at the feeling of the already abused area throbbing, but she keeps it out, hears someone howl in pain when she feels it dig into someone. She might be a tiny ghoul, weakened by the constant starving over the years despite Uta having fed her well for the last half a year, but she is not going down without a fight. She hurls a fist sideways, feels that one also connect thought hands quickly grab that arm and yank her further into the crowd. She quickly realizes she’s got no chance, that this is it, but still she fights. She doesn’t know why, her body is moving on its own, she snarls, screams, her kagune pierces flesh and she kicks out to get people off of her so she can breathe, only to be swarmed again.

 

It's fitting, in a way. The peacekeeper only managed to rule for this long because Itori always gave him the information he needed. Now he is defeated because she kept vital information to herself, and everyone here knows it. Killing her, alongside the man, is justified. Even she thinks that.

 

_‘It’s too bad.’_

 

Someone else doesn’t see it that way though.

 

Suddenly she can see the roof of the building, and blood flies through the air alongside limbs and she blinks. She sees a flash of blonde and hears screams and she forces herself up on her feet. It’s so quick even she feels shaken at the sight before her. Everyone is cowering away from Uta, as he literally stomps someone into the ground. It’s the way he looks disturbingly happy as he does it that scares everyone. Their peacekeeper enjoyed violence too, but he would never once jump into a crowd like this and tear people apart, he isn’t strong enough for that, but this kid is, that is what everyone is thinking.

 

“Die!” People throw themselves at him, and are all shoved back, most of them without their limbs. Uta never releases his kagune, instead he uses the limbs he tears off as weapons. That in itself must be terrifying. Finally they stop attacking and pull back, clutching their wounds. They are all scared, except for Itori. She knows Uta loves fighting, the thrill of it all brings him joy and she knows this because she’s witnessed it. But he doesn’t hurt his friends, he’s not been pushed to that point yet, so she just watches him as he straightens up.

 

“Your peacekeeper wasn’t all that much, was he?” He says snidely, and Itori rolls her eyes at the declaration. Of course he isn’t, the man is still on the stage, yelling curses but not doing anything himself. Uta must be getting annoyed with him too, as he turns around with a much too sweet a smile on his face.

 

“You left everyone in front of the CCG headquarters, didn’t you?” The man pales, eyes widening as he scrambles back the moment Uta starts moving forward.

 

“A cruel thing to do, but I know about an even more cruel thing to do to you. Have you ever eaten another ghoul?” The man doesn’t answer, so Uta turns to Itori who just nods while she moves to stand closer to Kado and Sumi. That feels safer.

 

“Another way of making sure people did as told.” She tells him and he turns back to the peacekeeper, grabbing his collar and hoisting him up, grinning cruelly at him.

 

“You know what it’s like? Being eaten alive?” The man’s adams apple bobs in his throat, but he utters not a sound, which the redhead thinks is pretty incredible in itself.

 

“You’re about to find out.”

 

“You won’t eat me, you don’t have the guts!” The peacekeeper snarls and Uta tilts his head.

 

“Of course I won’t eat you. I don’t eat trash. No, I’m going to take you to the twenty-fourth ward.” The man pales, and whispers begin to circulate the room.

 

“Trust me, that is _not_ a nice place. Take it from someone who knows, but don’t worry, there are good news too. You won’t last long, so you won’t suffer for too long.” Itori doesn’t know if that is really too reassuring, but that might be from her just wanting the man to suffer for all he’s done to her alone.

 

“You ever been there yourself, Itori-san?” She’s surprised to be addressed for this, and shakes her head.

 

“No.”

 

“Want to come along? Might be a good show.”

 

It is gruesome to watch, but Itori is used to it. She’s witnessed something like this before, though there is a distinct difference between watching the peacekeeper kill and eat another ghoul than the residents of the twenty-fourth ward digging into a meal. The peacekeeper laughed at the time, because it showed his power, it was his way of showing that he could eat anyone he wanted. The ghouls here, they don’t do it for show or power, they do it because they have nothing else to eat. They are desperate for food, and there is no ending his life before they eat. They just dig their teeth and fingers into the fresh meat presented to them and either they can’t hear the screams over the hunger, or they might just be ignoring them.

 

“You’ve killed the peacekeeper.”

 

“Did I? Are you witnessing against me?” She snorts and rolls her eyes, but Uta lifts his arm in a signal for her to be quieter. Now that Itori looks, it seems like one of the ghouls down there has paused in their eating to look around. Itori has no wish to join the former peacekeeper down there and be a meal, so she pulls back a bit, out of sight. It’s a bit sad to watch, because the ghouls seem like starved animals, and not actually sentient beings.

 

“As if. I’m glad he’s dead. I just want to warn you.” She tells him.

 

“They’ll come for you now. You showed you were the strongest, and the strongest rule the ward. Everyone will come after you.”

 

“So they will.” Uta doesn’t like happy, or angry. He is actually watching the ghouls a few feet away from them with a near on pitying eyes.

 

“So you’d best run away, is what I’m trying to say.” Itori turns and begins to creep away. Uta doesn’t follow immediately, and Itori is forced to wait for him, because she quickly realizes that even if she thought she memorized the way when they went down, the twenty-fourth ward is a maze and she’ll get lost if she doesn’t wait for the one who actually knows the way up again. Uta comes shortly after, only after she feels eyes on her from the shadows and grows a bit nervous. She wishes he’d walk quicker, because she does not feel safe down there, but he seems to be in no hurry and she sticks close to him because if any of the ghouls down there jump them, he’s her best chance at getting out of there in one piece.

 

“Why should I run away?”

 

“Because everyone will be after you. After the show you just put on, everyone has probably agreed that defeating you is the key to the leadership.” Itori shouldn’t be surprised by the feral and dark smirk stretching across Uta’s face, but she is nonetheless. Uta enjoys fighting, he thrives on it. Having the whole ward coming at him isn’t something he considers dangerous.

 

It is something he considers _fun_.


	5. Itch

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Itori laughs at first

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It may be a while until the next chapter, considering I have my practical studies at a kindergarten right now, and the exams coming up a week afterwards, but I'll try my best not to take too long!

The ghouls try, Itori will give them that much, but Uta is far superior in strength alone, and equipped with a clever mind to boot, he is a being beyond their reach. Every time he returns home, clothes bloody and ruined, she can never once smell any of his own blood on him, only that of everyone who attacked him. The fights cease after a few months, and Uta looks incredibly bored, until a whole group of ghouls gather outside his building. Itori watches from the sidelines, ready to bolt if she has to, and Uta looks positively delighted with the whole thing, until they all bow their heads.

 

Itori laughs, because they have chosen him to lead them for the sole reason that they can’t defeat him themselves. Uta tosses them all out, and slams the door so hard it nearly falls off of its hinges. That shuts the redhead out, because Uta looks angry, and somehow the way his brows furrow makes him seem almost… sad and scared at the same time? He doesn’t even look at her as he marches away, further inside the building. Slowly but surely Uta has been making more and more of the building inhabitable, and after the defeat of the former peacekeeper, Itori moved right in because in all honesty, she does not feel safe out there on the streets. Now she feels like she might want to leave. She sure as hell doesn’t dare follow Uta as enraged as he is now, even though he has never once hurt her, or indicated that he will.

 

But she also thinks that he wants to be alone right now, and that as a friend, she should come back later.

 

So she leaves and comes across Sumi.

 

“Sumi-chin!” She greets him cheerily, and the man nods. “How’s Kado-chin?” She hasn’t seen much of the other ghoul after her attempted execution, and she is a bit worried for him. Sumi tells her he’s keeping mostly to himself after what happened and she frowns. If Kado hadn’t stepped up to defend her, he would still have his kagune. She wonders if he hates her for it, and will no longer treat her kindly anymore, or even see her. She decides to try.

 

“Can I come over?” Sumi blinks, surprised, but nods after some thought. They find a human, kills them, and brings the corpse to their home. Kado is sitting by a table, looking like he’s deep in thought and Itori suddenly feels uncomfortable. She doesn’t know what to say, how to start, or if she should be there at all, but she did come, and Sumi said it was okay, and she still hasn’t thanked the other ghoul for saving her from her execution. But when he looks up at her, and doesn’t exactly smile at her, she freezes up. Uta doesn’t want anybody around right now, and Kado lost his predatory organ because of her and she wonders what made her think it was okay to come over to see him. She stutters, fingers wrapping around her elbow as she fidgets, looks down, before cautiously peering up at him then looking away again. Itori can’t quite bring herself to look him in the eye.

 

“Itori-san, what are you doing here?” Kado doesn’t sound angry or offended, so she chances a look up again, and sees that he looks rather curious. That makes her feel a bit safer about coming closer but she stands ramrod still and folds her hands together.

 

“Kado-chin. Are you… I wanted to thank you. For saving me.” She says quietly and he blinks at her, before tilting his head.

 

“I hardly did any saving.” The man says and she shakes her head at him.

 

“If it wasn’t for you, I’d have been killed. You stalled him long enough for Uta to get there in time, but you lost your kagune, and I’m sorry. It’s my fault.” Kado pulls out a chair and motions for her to sit down beside him. Itori does so, hesitantly, still worried and feeling guilty. But even so, Kado is offering her a seat, and it will be far too rude of her to refuse when she’s the one who came over, and owes him a debt she can never repay.

 

“Of course I wanted you to avoid losing your kagune, because there is a difference between you and me. I can survive without it, you wouldn’t. As for Uta-san reaching the execution in time, we planned on that. Uta-san has been planning with us for some time now how to get rid of the former peacekeeper. Your execution just hurried our plans along for a bit. It’s not your fault, I made the decision myself.” Itori is shocked to learn of this, because she can’t recall ever seeing Kado and Sumi with Uta. And Itori frequently stayed over at his home, for long periods of time even.

 

“When? Why?” She stutters and the older ghoul shrugs.

 

“A few months before the whole spectacle. Uta-san approached us, actually. You were getting beat up fairly often, even when you _did_ tell the former peacekeeper what he wanted to hear and he was worried. So we told him that the only way for it all to stop was to kill the peacekeeper, so he said he would.”

 

“You can’t tell me you actually believed he would do it?” Itori asks, and Kado proceeds to tell her how he and Sumi had no faith whatsoever in Uta’s declaration, until the boy had carefully explained how he could unravel the whole web the peacekeeper had spun over the ward, and showing them just how strong he is. Itori knows Uta is strong, but to have convinced Kado and Sumi who, despite their dislike of the former peacekeeper, kept on living a somewhat decent life as long as they kept their heads low, is incredible. Kado and Sumi kept on the down-low because the former peacekeeper had already taken Sumi’s kagune. Now they are a brotherly duo without kagune, and it is sad that it ended like this.

 

“Do you feel like it was worth it?”

 

“The kids don’t look starved anymore.” He responds as Sumi comes over with pieces of human meat and sets down three plates. Itori takes that as a yes, and thanks the other ghoul for the food. She tells them both how the other ghouls have told Uta they see him as the new peacekeeper, and said boy’s reaction to the declaration. Kado and Sumi exchange looks and Itori pauses, looking at the both of them.

 

“Told you so.” Sumi says as Kado exhales loudly.

 

“You knew?”

 

“We explained to him what would happen if he confronted the peacekeeper and outright killed him in a fight, that’s why the kid tried to avoid that, but when you were to be executed…” Kado starts, trailing off.

 

“He ran off and did what he tried to avoid.” Sumi shrugs and Itori looks down at the table, the cogs in her brain turning as she tries to put the pieces together. Uta is clearly uncomfortable with the whole situation, though he does not regret his actions. She doesn’t know why, most ghouls would jump at the chance at controlling a whole ward and its inhabitants, because controlling the ward means benefits. Uta do not actually need them, the redhead knows this, but it is also clear that he absolutely does not want them either. He doesn’t want to lead the ward, he doesn’t want to be anyone’s boss, he-

 

He doesn’t want the responsibility.

 

But even though he knew that he set himself up as a target if he saved Itori from her execution, he did it. Perhaps he hoped the others would have the tenacity to never give up on trying to defeat him, but clearly that is not going to happen. They have given up, and they are now putting the responsibilities on Uta, who _really_ do not want them. But no one can beat him, and no one dares take on the mantle as long as he’s out there, because they know he can dethrone them in moments if he doesn’t like them. It’s safer to serve him than to make a enemy out of him.

 

Itori thinks Uta should relocate to another ward.

 

“I have to go. Again, thank you, Kado-chin, Sumi-chin.” She says and they nod in farewell as she leaves. Itori subtly takes in the sight of the ward as she wanders down the streets. It has gotten better. It hasn’t been all that long since the former peacekeeper was taken down, but already the starved kids are starting to look healthy. They’re still small, but they’re getting there. She wonders what it’ll be like if someone who actually gives a small amount of thought about the ghoul inhabitants actually take over as peacekeeper in the ward. Perhaps it’ll be a bit more like the other wards where ghouls live in relative peace? It will never be completely the same, or as peaceful, because the fourth ward doesn’t have that kind of potential, but it can be better than it was. It is already shaping up to be, but it won’t last long without a peacekeeper, because ghouls will get rowdy, they will start fighting amongst themselves and cause a lot trouble, and then the CCG will come running. They need a leader.

 

Uta doesn’t want it, but as long as he stays, no one else will do it either. She cares for Uta, she really does, but he can’t stay. Not like this.

 

When she enters the abandoned building, she can’t see him anywhere, but she can hear him. A loud crash from upstairs alerts her to where he is and she sighs, ascending the stairs in a quick jog.

 

“U-chan?” She calls out and opens the door to his room. She finds him crouching on the floor, teeth grit as two of his fingers dig into his right eye-socket. She freezes in sight, watches him rip the inked eyeball out and crush it in his palm before she finally manages to speak again.

 

“U-chan!”

 

“Oh, hi, Itori-san. Is there something you wanted?” He sounds calm, like nothing out of the unusual happened, like he did not just gouge out his inked eye.

 

“ _What the hell are you doing?”_ She yells and he blinks his remaining eye at her.

 

“Why are you yelling?”

 

“Do you know how long it took to find a subtle tattoo artist?” She demands as she marches towards him.

 

“Why did you rip out the eye I went through the trouble of getting-“ She stops herself, because she knows why, it is obvious. One-eyed ghouls are rare, and while the rumours say they are stronger than full-blooded ghouls, no one is going to believe that. No one will want him to be the new peacekeeper if they know he’s a one-eyed ghoul. But Uta went through a lot of trouble to hide that he is a one-eyed ghoul before, why reveal it all just because he wants everyone to leave him alone? That is what makes it truly incomprehensible. It makes no sense what so ever. Why go through all that trouble, only to reveal everything because he doesn’t want to lead the ward?

 

It’s a childish act of defiance, and it pisses her off.

 

“You didn’t have to rip out your own eye!” She says angrily. “If you don’t want to lead the ward, then there are other ways of dealing with it than being a dramatic little princess ripping out her own eyes!” Itori snaps at him and he actually looks away, like he knows she is right but won’t audibly admit to it. It is childish, and she wants to hit him. Not hard, just enough to- no she wants to crack his skull open on the floor, but she inhales deeply and closes her eyes, counting to ten.

 

“ _Why_ are you so against this?” He doesn’t answer immediately, and she waits until he blinks his new eye a couple of times. It healed incredibly fast, Itori thinks, but doesn’t comment on it. She just settles for glaring at him until he finally speaks again. It takes a long while, she can feel her face twitch from the constant glaring, the strain slowly starting to tell her to relax and drop it, but she stubbornly keeps on going. Uta purses his lips, before sighing.

 

“I’ve tried being a leader before… it didn’t work out well.” He mutters and her brows furrow deeper.

 

“You’re saying you’re going to reveal anything because it didn’t work out the first time? What happened? You were just a kid and people didn’t like you being the boss? They didn’t listen, is that it? You’re sulking here because _it didn’t work out?”_

 

“They’re all dead.” The way he says it, with a hollow voice as his head tilts forward and his hair covers his face makes Itori draw in a sharp breath. She had not expected that kind of response because from what she knows about Uta from his personality alone, the cheerful boy with a knack for violence, this clever boy with a strategic mind far beyond his years, doesn’t seem like someone who’s lost so much. Her words get stuck in her throat and her scowl melts away and she feels incredibly ashamed of her own rash accusations towards him.

 

“I’m sorry.” She says quietly and looks away.

 

“I’m sorry.” She repeats. “But there are other ways to deal with this-“ Then she pauses. Something doesn’t add up. When was Uta ever a leader? When could it have happened? He told her himself that he’s spent the majority of his life in the underground, in the original 24th ward. He stayed there for so many years he had almost forgotten what the sky looked like, that was his words back then. And he even told her he went straight to the fourth ward after ascending to the surface again. During their conversations when they played their game, where Itori would find information about the ward he supposedly grew up in, what did he say about his age?

 

_“I’m older than I look.”_

_“If I haven’t died by now, I doubt I ever will.”_

 

It just doesn’t add up. The nostalgia clearly taking over his features every time she brought about a really far-fetched tale of the forgotten ward, how he sometimes seemed sad, sometimes happy, how he told her what he knew about the ward with such surety one could only believe to be the truth… Uta being a leader, everyone who followed him being dead, that he came from the 24th ward, that he is so strong and clever beyond what he should be. The venom in his voice when he spoke of the leader of the underground ward… _Nothing of it adds up!_

 

Not unless…

 

“The pieces are falling in place.” Uta speaks softly. “But you just can’t believe it, because logic dictates that it is impossible.” The redhead takes a few steps back, feels her back connect with the wall and she slides down to sit.

 

“It’s the only thing that makes sense, isn’t it? From everything I’ve told you, there is only one conclusion you can think of as the truth, but you can’t believe it, because it is unbelievable.” It is unbelievable, it is impossible, it makes no sense and the mere thought is devoid of any logic. Even if it is possible, there is no way Uta can appear the way he does, not like this.

 

“Do you know what happens when a ghoul cannibalize a lot?” She doesn’t want to know, but it doesn’t seem like he’s going to keep it to himself.

 

“If they eat enough of their own, it’ll be like their bodies are frozen in time.” No, no there is absolutely no way, _absolutely no way!_

 

“They don’t age, and there is a possibility of becoming a kakuja. You know what that is?” Itori nods, staring wide-eyed at the floor.

 

“U-chan…” Uta stares, waits for her to say the words she cannot properly believe in, but there are no other explanations, other than that he is lying through his teeth about everything. That makes more sense, is more believable than what she thinks and is about to say is, yet she cannot bring herself to think he is lying.

 

“You’re… the one-eyed king?” He flinches, and looks away. There is absolutely no way that it is possible. The events of that ward, the one-eyed king and his revolution, it all happened nearly a hundred years ago. It is impossible- Itori closes her eyes tightly and breathes in deep, then out, then in, then out. The problem isn’t whether or not something is possible or not, this is not why she came to talk to him. She came to tell him to either man up or get out. So she does.

 

“Get out of the ward.” He blinks at her demand and tilts his head.

 

“Why? This is my home.”

 

“It’s peaceful for now, but once everyone realizes that you won’t actually stop them if they get out of line, the ward will become a war zone, even worse than what it was before because no one will stop them now. The ward is leaderless, and soon it’ll be a blood bath. If you don’t want to be our leader, fine, that’s your choice and no one can force you to do otherwise, but as long as you’re here, everyone will be afraid, and it’ll become chaos. Leave, so someone else can be the peacekeeper and keep everyone in line.”

 

“Like your former peacekeeper?” Uta asks quietly after a while and Itori scratches at her neck, feeling the itch come back. It’s been gone for so long she almost forgot about it, but now it’s back. Perhaps she didn’t think about the itching because she’s been feeling relatively safe and happy the last eight months, so preoccupied with other things that she didn’t have time to look back on things. Now there is no safety net anymore, and the itching is back.

 

“No one can be as bad as he was. Did you know he used to chain kids up in his cellar? Put a collar around our necks and left us in the dark? And he starved us so bad we couldn’t break free. He kept on cutting us until our bodies couldn’t properly regenerate properly. A lot of us died, the survivors were used however he saw fit.” Uta frowns at the explanation, doesn’t like the sound of it. He is not like that, but he still doesn’t want to be the peacekeeper and Itori is voicing a fair point. If he stays, they will be leaderless, and the ward will become a war zone, just as she says.

 

“You have to leave.” Itori says one final time as she gets up on her feet. Uta watches her, surprised by the twisted expression on her face.

 

“Get out and don’t come back, you coward.” She chokes. She doesn’t know where the tears are coming from, or the lump in her throat. All she knows is that the thought of her friend leaving actually makes her feel absolutely terrible. The thought of Uta leaving makes her feel lonely, because she loves playing with him, and talking with him, but if he stays, everything will go to shit anyway. Either he leaves and the ward might find some stable leader, leaving her alone, or he stays and chaos reigns.

 

Reality is such a bitch sometimes, and Itori doesn’t want to face it right now.

 

Somehow, the weather is mirroring her mood. She doesn’t know why, because when she headed over to Uta, the sky was clear and the sun shining, but now it’s pouring down. If she had bothered to look around, she’d see that the weather change had surprised a whole lot of others as well, as they take off running down the streets, looking for a place to duck in and hide from the rain. Itori doesn’t, she just runs down the streets, ignoring how drenched she becomes. She runs and runs until her feet give up on her and she falls over and skids across the asphalt. She doesn’t pick herself up immediately, instead she lays there, heaving for breath before she slowly pushes herself up onto her knees.

 

 _‘I don’t like this.’_ She thinks, hands fisting over her thighs as she grits her teeth. The itching returns with a vengeance and one hand moves up to scratch the irritated skin around her neck.

 

 _‘I don’t like this.’_ Itori is the one who told Uta to leave, but that doesn’t mean she actually wants him to leave. Her nails dig into her skin, leaving angry red lines.

 

‘ _I don’t like this.’_ She does want him to stay, but if he does and continues on like he has, how will anything change? The answer is easy, it won’t, and things will spiral into madness again, perhaps even worse than what it was. The ward isn’t Itori’s responsibility, she herself should just up and leave it now that she can. She should just let whatever happens next, happen, but she just can’t leave well enough alone, can she? The former peacekeeper did keep in power through her information, after all. A lot of the people who died and suffered by his hands, their blood is on her hands too, in a way. She claws skin off of her neck and rivulets of blood run down her skin.

 

_“I don’t like this!”_


	6. Reprieve

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Itori regrets the worst decision she's ever made. For like ten seconds

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am SO SORRY for being away for so long! Practical interning at kindergartens and exams have held me up! But I'm back now

Itori doesn’t dare return to Uta’s building for days. Kado and Sumi let her stay at their place, as she actually does not have a home. When she finally manages to gather the courage to visit, she finds the building empty. The furniture is still there, but the place is cold, and Uta’s scent is… it’s just gone. Itori is the one who told him to leave, but even so, coming to his home to find it empty is just…

 

It’s almost like a slap to the face.

 

She climbs the stairs, finds his bedroom. The bed, pillows and sheet are still there, but other than that, empty. She walks over, climbs onto it and lays down. The bed is nothing special, just something Uta found that someone else had discarded, but the pillows are soft, and she clings to one. She can faintly smell her friend and sighs.

 

Itori is the one who told Uta to leave, and then he did. She has never once regretted any decision she has made in her life more than this. But she has no more tears to shed, so instead she rolls onto her back, and laughs. It’s a humourless sound, hollow and quiet, but she still likes it much better than the undignified sobs she has made lately, so she doesn’t even make an attempt at stopping it. Once the laughter dies out, she exhales loudly and sits up.

 

“Since U-chan left… I guess I’ll move in.” She says out loud to herself, just to fill the silence she is so unused to in this building, and does just that. She lives there for seven whole days alone, before she is rudely awoken in the middle of the night on the eight night of living there. She finds herself tossed out in the air from the bed and crashing onto the floor. She quickly climbs up onto her feet, eyes narrowed and ready to fight, only to pause at the sight of Uta.

 

“That’s my bed.” She blinks stupidly up at him, not quite believing her own eyes. His eye has been re-inked, and he looks just like he used to, and he’s tilting his head curiously. All she can feel is relief and happiness that he is indeed back there, instead of annoyance of being tossed out of the bed in the middle of the night with no warning whatsoever. So she breaks down, yet again, sinking to her knees, head tilted back, as she bawls loudly. There is relief, and regret, but most of all she’s happy he’s back.

 

Uta surprises her when she calms down. The riots which had slowly been building up in the ward are quickly shut down. He terrifies the rioters as he casually strolls down the streets and honest to god _shreds them_ into tiny little pieces. That makes everyone else cower quickly, and remember just why no one in this ward have dared to take the position of leader yet. And then he stands above them all and tells them this:

 

“My turf, my rules.” And so the entire area bows down to him, because they can’t do anything else. And not surprising to Itori at all, Uta’s rule is much better than the former peacekeeper’s ever was. The rules aren’t too strict, and no one is prohibited from hunting and fending for themselves, though if you break the rules, Uta either breaks you or tosses you out of the ward. Most of the time he breaks the rulebreakers, and Itori often wonders what made Uta go from being a king, to someone who enjoys hurting others in the most vicious way possible. She remembers how sad he seemed when they spoke of the people he led in the past, it’s obvious he still suffers from the loss and feels bad about it. This makes her even more curious as to why he is now a leader who hurts his subjects when they make a few too many wrong moves.

 

She quickly comes to the realization that it is because he doesn’t want to connect to anyone. If he doesn’t grow too close, he won’t be emotionally hurt when something happens.

 

“I’m important to you, right, U-chan?” She asks him one evening and he blinks, looking up from whatever he’s doing at this shoddy desk he’s dragged into the building.

 

“What’s this about?”

 

“You care about me, right? Since we’re friends and you let me live here and talk to me, I’m important to you, right?” He drops the items in his hands and turns around, tilting his head at her. She finds the action oddly cute, but there are a great many things she finds cute, adorable and attractive about him, she has realized lately. He may be a hundred year old man, but the teenage physique and sometimes childish personality often makes her forget that.

 

“Of course. We’re friends, so I care about you.”

 

“So you won’t tear me apart if I do something you’ll consider rule-breaking?”

 

“Hm, no.” He hums, looking thoughtful. “I’ll probably just scold you and be angry for a while.”

 

“But you’ll never toss me aside, right?”

 

“What brought this about?” Uta asks her and she shrugs.

 

“I just want to know that I’m important to somebody.” She admits. It feels kind of stupid to admit to such a thing, a weakness, but she’s never felt like she’s been acting stupid around the half-ghoul and Itori is someone who has long since learned to swallow her pride, so she stands up and walks over, hands cupping his face as she lays a kiss on his forehead.

 

“You’re my most important person, so I just want to know that I am somewhat important to you too.” He looks surprised by her words, eyes owlishly wide as he blinks up at her, and the sight is so damn adorable she can’t help the giggle escaping her.

 

“Did I catch you off guard with my honesty?” Uta admits that she did, as he hasn’t heard words like that aimed at him for quite some time, and he never expected to hear anyone say such a nice thing to him ever again. Not that he had anyone around him to speak any niceties to him this last century anyway. It’s nice, he finds himself thinking, being appreciated. He’s been so used to being alone, so used to being feared now, that he’s completely forgotten what it’s like being just… appreciated.

 

“A little bit.” He tells her as he stands up.

 

“Where are you going?” Itori asks and he shrugs.

 

“Food.”

 

“Ooh, bring me something back too!”

 

“Why don’t you go out and hunt yourself?”

 

“Take care of me, grandpa!” He stops and glances over his shoulder, seeing her stick her tongue out at him impishly.

 

“You don’t _have_ to behave like a brat.” But he lets it go, because he can sort of understand why she is behaving this way. She never got to be a kid. Neither did he, but he lived in an entirely different era, and she still is a child, in a way. And she is struggling to find an outlet for whatever is bothering her right now. And he won’t pry when until she tells him what it is, because she is obviously trying to hide it from him. She’s terrible at it, but she’s trying. So he goes out, and finds them some food, returns with the corpse of a young lady with breathtakingly green eyes, and Itori teases him for it.

 

“It’s the eyes that does it for you, huh?”

 

“They are intriguing, and pretty. I like pretty things.” He admits, digging through the corpse’s stomach and finds the liver. A fat, juicy liver. Before he can bite into it, Itori snags it, laughing at his expression before he leaps at her and wrestles her for the organ.

 

Itori enjoys this life with Uta, Kado, Sumi and other ghouls in the ward. It’s all so much better now than what she grew up with, and she can accept this kind of life-style.

 

Yes, life is good now. Finally, finally Itori is happy with it, but good things never last long.

 

Because only half a year later, a cannibal enters the ward, and chaos ensues.


	7. Realization

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Itori was once worried about her being replaced. No more.

Itori doesn’t know whether or not she’s scared or amused by the amount of damage the cannibal can cause Uta during their fights. She’s never once seen Uta take any damage at all, not even during her would-be execution. And back then he was surrounded by a whole mob. The cannibal is all alone, and doing this much damage to the young, or perhaps it is more accurate to call him old, peacekeeper.

 

She comes to realize she is actually growing quite worried, as Uta seem to grow more and more obsessed with the cannibal. Raven, they call him, because of the way he scavenges for corpses. Itori should have realized it sooner what it meant for someone who can keep up with Uta entering the ward. Uta is enjoying himself. Everyone in the ward are worried that Uta might actually lose, now that they have grown so used to him leading the ward in a satisfactory manner and are all plotting how to take out the Raven before he can kill Uta.

 

Itori quickly told them to lay off, lest they find themselves on the receiving end of Uta’s fury. Raven is Uta’s prey, and no one should get in the way.

 

“But Uta-san is losing!”

 

“U-chan is enjoying himself. He was starting to feel bored by the whole thing, this is him having fun again. He won’t lose.” Itori rolls her eyes. If she snaps at them angrily, like she wants to because she doesn’t feel like she should be responsible for everyone’s stupid decisions, they’ll think she’s just as worried as they are, and she doesn’t want them to know that. She’s not worried Uta’ll lose, she’s just worried what will happen once he’s grown tired of Raven too. What will he do then? Go on a murder spree? She’s known for quite some time now that he hides behind his laughter, causes mayhem to supress something he doesn’t want to deal with, or even think about. What’ll happen when he can’t find any outlet to keep those feelings and thoughts at bay?

 

Will he break? Will it be scary? Terrifying? Will she be a victim of a mental breakdown of his?

 

Or will she be part of an audience who’ll be able to properly enjoy whatever he’ll do?

 

There are so many possibilities, but she is in no hurry to explore any of them just yet. So whenever Uta asks her if she knows where Raven is, she tells him. Because he is her friend and she care greatly for him. This is him having fun, this is him taking care of himself in his own way, and she wants him to be well. Even if that sometimes, most of the time really, means that he’ll come back, missing a limb, or three and she has to patch him up. It is almost cute the way he rambles on about how he’ll kill the cannibal, acting as if he’s annoyed and furious about the whole situation when she knows that in all reality he is having the time of his life.

 

“Yes, yes. You’ll tear him apart.” She says placatingly as she resets his shoulder and makes sure his forearm stays fixed to his elbow. Uta is a mess, but while he’s growling and cursing, she can see his eyes nearly _glowing_ with excitement. Either he’s insane or, no, actually, Itori does believe Uta is insane, but the thought doesn’t scare her. If he is, he’s been so since before she met him, and therefore this is the way she knows him. Wandering around underground for a hundred years must do _something_ one’s mind, after all.

 

“You won’t die, right?” He cuts off his tirade at Itori’s question, and looks up, blinking widely.

 

“What?”

 

“You won’t die right? You’re not fighting Raven because you think he can kill you, right?” Uta had not expected this kind of questioning from Itori, and tilts his head. He should have known better though. The redhead is clever, but she also possesses such a negative view of the world and its inhabitants and their thought process. Her jumping to such conclusions isn’t surprising at all, is it? What’s surprising is that she’s only half-way correct.

 

“Of course I’m fighting him because he can kill me.” She frowns, thin red brows furrowing in a way he can only describe as cute. She is worried, and that is sweet of her. He can’t remember the last time anyone expressed worry for his well-being. In the last hundred years, Itori is the only one who cares and it is one of the many reasons he enjoys her company. In the beginning it was her sarcastic remarks that drew him in, then it was the way she reminded him of himself. The way she existed but wasn’t quite alive. There was no spark of life in her, but she existed. The difference between him and her was that she could be killed by anyone in the ward, and she knew it, yet it didn’t stop her from saying exactly what she meant. Then the loyalty… The loyalty she shows him and only him, how she was so afraid he would hate her when she explained to him that she had let slip some information about him to the former peacekeeper.  

 

Itori is his friend. One of the most precious people in his world. Uta never thought he would find anyone like that again, not after the catastrophe that happened all those years ago. He figures he should alleviate her worries a little bit, at least.

 

“I’m not fighting him so I can die. I’m fighting him because he’s strong.”

 

“Isn’t that the same thing?” He hums at her question. Perhaps to some it would seem that way, but it really is not.

 

“It gets my blood pumping. Fighting, I mean. It makes me feel alive.”

 

“Aren’t there other ways to do that?”

 

“Sure, but it doesn’t last as long. Fighting is what I know, what I’m comfortable with.” She purses her lips, still appearing to be a bit worried and he straightens up.

 

“You think I’ll lose? To a brat?” She sucks in her lower lip in an attempt at holding back a sudden burst of laughter trying to force its way out her mouth. To see someone who appears to be just as old as her, using the word brat, is just ridiculous.

 

“No, I don’t think you’ll lose. I’m just a teensy tiny bit worried you’ll both kill each other.”

 

“Then we kill each other.”

 

“I’d really rather you didn’t.” Itori says, turning around and walking away from him.

 

“You’re all I’ve got, you know.” That surprises him even more, and makes him think a bit about the situation. Days later, when Itori lies on the couch, flipping through a magazine, Uta and Raven enters the building and she drops the magazine, staring at them both dumbfounded, mouth hanging open.

 

“You’ll catch flies, Itori-san.” Uta says cheerily as he moves towards the refrigerator.

 

“What’s going on?”

 

“Renji-kun and I have decided on being friends instead of enemies.”

 

“Friends?” She feels a stab at her heart at the word. A sense of dread fills her, and for a short moment she thinks that she’ll be replaced by this cannibal as Uta’s friend.

 

“So I hope you two will get along too. Renji-kun, this is Itori-san, my very first friend.” The way he phrases that makes her feel a bit better, but Itori is far from comfortable with the cannibal in her home though. He doesn’t talk much, and is always looking angry. She asks Uta about it once the other ghoul is outside and they are alone in the building.

 

“Why he’s so angry all the time?”

 

“Yeah.”

 

“He lost his sister to the doves. He wants revenge.” A story that is nothing new to the redhead. There are a lot of stories like that swirling about. She won’t even have to dig deep to find such stories. But it gives her a better perspective about what is going on. Raven didn’t attack Uta just because Uta is the leader of the ward. He fought with Uta as a way to train, because he doesn’t believe in anything but his own strength.

 

“Are you bored now that you two aren’t fighting anymore?” Itori asks and Uta’s eyes glace over and he gets this faraway look on his face. She takes that as a yes, and hums to herself as she moves towards the exit.

 

“Where are you going?” Uta asks and she shrugs.

 

“Just out. Don’t worry your pretty little head about it.”

 

“I’m older than you.” He calls out and she smirks as she closes the door behind her.

 

“I know that, grandpa.” She can hear something collide with the door and laughs as she skips away. For this to work, she has to be able to have a conversation with Raven, or Renji or whatever his name is. And for that to happen, she first has to find him. It’s not hard when she thinks about where Uta told her he usually finds the other ghoul, and she ascends to the rooftops. It doesn’t take long to find the other teen.

 

“What do you want?” She startles at the rather unfriendly greeting, but ambles over to take a seat beside him anyway.

 

“I think that’s the longest sentence you’ve ever spoken around me.” He glares at her and she tilts her head, a secretive smile on her lips.

 

“No need to be so unfriendly, Ren-chan.”

 

“Don’t call me that.”

 

“But can I ask a favour?” His scowl grows darker and she wonders how much his features can twist before something falls off. How weird wouldn’t that be?

 

“Nothing bad, I promise. You’ll benefit from it, really.”

 

“What?” He snaps gruffly and she hums.

 

“Can you keep on entertaining U-chan?”

 

“Hah?”

 

“Exactly what I said. You’ll come out stronger from it, if he doesn’t accidentally kill you. But you’re not that weak, are you?” She goads him on, and he looks absolutely annoyed with both her and the situation, but he doesn’t tell her off.

 

“And what if I kill him? Accidentally.”

 

“If he hasn’t managed to get himself killed by now, he won’t ever.” She says cryptically, and Renji appears confused. He doesn’t understand what she means by that, or why she asks him to keep on entertaining Uta, but he does realize that he might get something out of it. Something that will get him closer to his own goal. So, he grudgingly accepts and she claps her hands happily.

 

“Thank you, you won’t regret it!”

 

“What do you get out of it?” She blinks, not expecting the question and she leans back on her hands, humming.

 

“Entertainment, I guess? And feeling good about helping a friend out.” Renji doesn’t probe more about it. It’s only years later that he figures out something that Itori herself might not have been aware of at the time.

 

* * *

 

Renji wanders into Helter Skelter. It's way past closing time, but Itori stands behind the counter nursing a glass of wine.

 

"Ara, Ren-chan? What brings you here?"

 

"Nothing." The redhead grins, as she always does, tilting her head to the side.

 

"Are you here to make sure I'm not up to something mischievous? Don't worry, Ren-chan, I'm way past that stage. I doubt I can ever see anything as splendid as the rise of the Dragon." Splendid is not the word the silver-haired ghoul associates with what happened two years ago, but he doesn't argue with it. Itori has her own demons, and Uta's mad speech during their fight that time has explained to him, in a way, why the Pierrot did what they did. He wonders what Itori's reasons were, but keeps his questions to himself.

 

"Hn."

 

"Care for a glass?"

 

"No thanks." He declines the offer or alcohol. He knows what'll happen if he accepts. Nothing good will come out of it. The redhead pouts but turns around to fix him some coffee instead.

 

"So, is there something you want?" There isn't any specific reason as to why he came by. He was just close by and decided to check in on her. But now that he is here, he might as well ask. He knows why Uta stopped, he knows that everyone else in the group except for Nico are dead. All that’s left is Itori.

 

"Why did you decide to stop your schemes after the incident?" She laughs, loudly. So loud she startles the male ghoul. Almost even herself.

 

"Right to the point, as always." She says as the coffeemaker begins the process.

 

"I just saw no more reason to continue." She shrugs. She got what she wanted out of it all anyway.

 

"Why not? What about the whole incident satisfied you?" She just smiles secretively at him over her shoulder, and he frowns.

 

"Why were you even a part of Pierrot in the first place?" She doesn't answer, and leaves Renji to ponder for himself. It doesn't actually take a whole lot of braincells to realize it, once he actually thinks about it, and everything Itori has said and done up through the years.

 

"You did it for Uta." She neither confirms nor denies it as she turns around with a hum, handing him his cup.

 

"Is this what you came for?"

 

"You love him." Finally he gets a reaction out of her, even if it's only the momentarily tensing of her muscles, the slight widening of her eyes. Then she closes them and exhales.

 

"Well, that's not exactly a secret, so I shouldn't be surprised you figured that out." She chuckles to herself.

 

"So, what will you do with this ground-breaking discovery?" He regards her quietly, and she can practically see the gears turning in his head. She wonders what conclusion he'll come to. Will he hit the nail on the head, or will he come with a comment or two that are so hilarious she'll fall over laughing? His cup of coffee is almost empty by the time he speaks again, and Itori finds herself far from laughing.

 

"That's why you asked me to keep entertaining him back then. Because you love him, and wanted him to enjoy himself." She exhales a silent laugh. It is incredible how Renji, and everyone else, have been so dense about this, and then he just waltzes in after closing time over a decade later and blurts out the truth of it all over a cup of coffee.

 

"Have you told him? Did you ever tell him?" The small smile and downwards cast of Itori's eyes gives him the answer he needs. Itori gave and gave and gave, and never asked for anything true to her heart in return. That is why. That is why she laughed at the misery around her. She enjoyed seeing others more miserable than she herself felt, perhaps _still_ feels.

 

"That's why you didn't leave me for dead when Uta dragged me out of the underground. You did it for Uta.”

 

“I’d like for you to keep this to yourself.”

 

“Why? Why not tell him?” Itori grabs her glass of blood wine and he can see her mind drift off. She doesn’t answer for a long time, she only carefully sips her wine as she ponders.

 

“U-chan is my friend. He’s experienced too much, is too old to be able to love me the same way I love him. Let’s leave it at that.” Renji doesn’t quite understand her reasoning, and she can see it on hi expression, so she smiles, grateful for his concern and gently waves her hand.

 

“I’m satisfied with this, Ren-chan. Don’t worry about me.”

 

“Are you really?”

 

“Yeah.” She says, finishing her wine. “I’ve enjoyed this life I’ve led. Now I get to try something new. I love U-chan, but that doesn’t mean I have kept myself from experiencing good things myself. I knew this from the very beginning, what loving him would be like.”

 

“But…”

 

“But nothing.” Itori says firmly, leaning forward.

 

“Thank you for your concern, Ren-chan. I appreciate it. I’m happy with this. If I wasn’t, you know I would have done something about it.” He appraises her for a moment, before deciding to let it go. Itori is right. If she had any complaints, she would have let them be known. Loudly. So he pushes his cup closer to her.

 

“Another, please.”

 

“Coming right up!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the end, and I feel both satisfied, and a little bit not satisfied. But this was never about a fairy tale "happy ending", but more along the lines of canon-verse.


End file.
